Sun Valley Lake, IA
How exposed is Sun Valley Lake to wildfire?
Sun Valley Lake's 708 buildings earn a 70th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Sun Valley Lake at the 71st percentile, close to its 70th-percentile risk score.
Sun Valley Lake's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 65.1% of Sun Valley Lake's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 4.5% Indirect share and far above its 30.4% Minimal share — a profile where 461 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Sun Valley Lake against the rest of the country
Within Iowa, Sun Valley Lake ranks higher (94th percentile) than it does nationally (70th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sun Valley Lake ranks 9,516 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,576 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 67 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Sun Valley Lake and the insurance market
At the 70th percentile nationally, Sun Valley Lake carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Sun Valley Lake
With 65.1% of Sun Valley Lake in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Sun Valley Lake's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 708 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sun Valley Lake. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sun Valley Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.